“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu

Menu

Welcome To The Council

The European Council is an interesting and complex portion of the European Union. Their main goal here is to conduct foreign affairs. The great aspect of this tour was that we were able to sit

Did you know that the European Union was made-up of the 27 member states that took turns being the chair of the Council?

in a room where live broadcasts that involves key decision makers of European Union countries. Each meeting with a specific goal and topic, our presenter explained that his main job was to over see the audio and visual media. Some interesting facts brought to our attention (and were often topics of interest and conversation) were similar to topics we find important in the states. For example, Unemployment rates in Spain are 20-25% and youth unemployment is around 50% and sometimes countries may need additional help if there is a particular event or crises going on.

Every six months there is a new president of the council, and right now Ireland holds the presidency. The council is required to meet four times a year, but in actuality they meet close to ten times each year. They discussed how social media has really taken off, and they have hired a person special for managing all of their social media. Maybe that is a job for the future?

Our chocolate adventure today is not one of taste (sorry), but one of amazing art! As you have probably gathered, chocolate is something that Belgians take very, VERY, seriously. If is part of their culture, and of course their history. Visiting a chocolate shop recently I had the privilege of witnessing one of the higher end chocolatiers, as well as some sculptures that were created out of pure chocolate. Take a look at these…

My initial question was, “how on earth is this done?” but studying art, nothing will ever be deemed impossible in my eyes. The monkey head was displayed in the window of the chocolate shop, and the hats were displayed inside. I wanted more than anything to pick the hat up and try it on, but I think that would have been viewed as impolite and probably would have got me, Denea, Bobby, and Jessica kicked out of the store.